


"Captured" AU

by RogersBz14



Category: Call of Duty, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ass-Kicking, Friendship, Gen, Military, Seperation, hurt! Mitchell, worried/concerned/pissed off! Gideon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-18
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-13 13:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3382880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RogersBz14/pseuds/RogersBz14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if the mission "Captured" went out a little bit different?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all :0)  
> So this is my SECOND story I have ever written and published! I had this story in my mind since the campaign ended, so I thought I might as well write it down so I can sleep without watching my story play out in my dreams again and again lol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gideon believed that Iron's actions against America was the thing that could engulf him with rage and anger...he was wrong...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all :0)  
> So, just like my other story, there are a couple of things!  
> 1.) I've had this idea in my head for an extremely long time (since the game came out) and up until now, I haven't felt motivated to write them and publish them :/  
> 2.) It does contain hurt!Mitchell & worried/concerned/thistimepissedoff! Gideon.  
> 3.) It follows the cannon but is still an AU  
> 4.) There will be multiple chapters (sorry about that) but shorter than my last story!!  
> 5.) Warning: Grammatical/Spelling errors and possibly slight OOC-ness

**January 8, 2061 (14:30)  
** Gideon came to being dragged down a hallway by two Atlas soldiers, each one holding him up by his arms. He still felt groggy from being drugged a while ago and his hands were still bound in front of him. The last thing he remembered was being bitch-slapped around by Atlas guards, getting pulled into a cell with Ilona, Mitchell, and Cormack by some wire, and then a needle coming up towards his neck. He was suddenly forced onto his shaky feet and pushed forward to walk. His footsteps were still slightly uncoordinated and wobbly, but at least he was able to move this time around. Behind him, he noticed Ilona going through the exact same process of waking up confused and then being forced onto her feet. Before he could ask if she was alright, a fist came out of nowhere, forcing him to look forward.

‘Fucking prick’ he silently thought.

After a couple of silent moments of walking, one of the guards left him, as well as the other guard, and started to walk back to where they came from. He didn’t want to receive another blow to the face (not because he didn’t want to get hurt, but rather because he didn’t want to lose his temper and cause something that could put himself or Ilona in danger), so he continued to walk forward. A door slide up and he was shoved into the room along with Ilona, each one of them with their own guard standing behind their backs, guns ready to fire. The first thing he noticed was that there was a glass wall that separated them from two other soldiers who were tied up; one slumped downwards and the other one beginning to stir. Squinting his eyes, he realized who the two soldiers were: Mitchell and Cormack. His first thought was to rush forward and release the bonds that trapped both of their arms, but he remembered that there were two guards with loaded guns behind him, so that idea was out of the question. As Cormack blinked his eyes open, Gideon looked over to Mitchell to see that he was finally coming to. After a few tense moments, Mitchell finally opened his eyes and instinctively pulled at his arms in order to escape the locks that held them in place. The door across from them suddenly slide open and in came Jonathan Irons with another Atlas soldier behind him. And just like that, all of the memories that refused to come up finally hit him harder than a bullet. From landing outside of Atlas headquarters, to looking down at Knox’s bloody and dead body, to seeing Mitchell get shot back by an explosion, to finally getting knocked out himself by a AST. Along with the memories came unstoppable hatred, fury, and grief. They had not only failed their mission, but they also failed their teammates who were victims of Manticore. The man who was responsible for 50,000 deaths four years ago, as well as the countless deaths of Sentinel soldiers, was standing in front of him, breathing and walking...that thought tore Gideon’s insides and made him want to run through the glass and flatten his smug face right there on the spot.

His head slightly tilted when Irons began to talk to Mitchell and Cormack; he couldn’t hear what he was saying but based on Mitchell and Cormack’s facial expressions, it didn’t sound good. At one point in the conversation, Cormack pulled viciously at his restraints in order to shake the bastard, but Irons simply turned around, reached for a handgun, said a couple of words, and fired it right at Cormack’s hip. Instantly, Cormack dropped to his knees in pain. Gideon tried to run forward, but was stopped by one of the soldiers behind him who forcibly pulled at his uniform. Irons handed back the gun to the soldier behind him and proceeded to walk towards Gideon and Ilona. Iron picked up what looked like a wrench, stared at it, and then looked at Gideon. Gideon used all of his strength to prevent himself from launching at the glass barrier. Instead, he looked at Mitchell, who looked absolutely furious and slightly scared as well. Their eyes met for a couple of seconds, both of them silently asking the same question, ‘what the fuck do we do now’? While Gideon continued to look at Mitchell, he noticed the look of confirmation, pride, and pleasure Irons was shooting him with. Irons turned around and began to make his way towards Mitchell, which caught Gideon’s attention. He noticed Irons gently stroking the Private’s face with the wrench while the Private himself tried to force his head away. Gideon saw Irons getting too close to Mitchell’s face before he suddenly lifted the wrench and slammed it onto Mitchell’s prosthetic arm.

“Shit” Gideon yelled, once again attempting to move forward. His response was a sharp tug at his uniform behind him and a gun pressed right against the back of his head.  
“Stop moving or I’ll put you down right on the spot.”  
Before Gideon could reply with some sarcastic remark or a simple “fuck you”, Ilona’s voice chimed in, grabbing his attention.“Gideon, just stay still.” Her thick Russian accent was firm and extremely quiet, probably so she wouldn’t receive a fist to her face again. Gideon looked back at Mitchell, who looked like he was in extreme pain.  
There were sparks and electric bolts shooting out of his fake arm and his knees began to shake. Irons lifted his arm again and, with all of his force, slammed the wrench onto Mitchell’s now damaged arm, causing Mitchell to scream so loud that Gideon could hear it through the thick glass. The Captain was eager, and maybe slightly desperate, to reach his friend’s side, but he knew that if he were to move, he would get shot right on the spot. Mitchell was now on his knees and he head was lolling on his chest. Irons threw the wrench away from him, said something that Gideon couldn’t make out, and then walked away from Mitchell, who looked like he was on the verge of passing out. Irons whispered something to Atlas soldier behind him and left the room with the soldier at his feet. The doors now shut, everything was now silent. Gideon hated the scene in front of him: to his right was Cormack with a hole in his hip, already loosing too much blood, and to his left was Mitchell with a now damaged arm. Both men were in pain and Gideon knew it. He stared at Mitchell, who weakly looked up right back at him. Gideon was too far away to clearly see his eyes, but he knew that Mitchell’s eyes were reflecting the pain he had felt and currently is feeling. What surprised Gideon however was the small and weak smile Mitchell managed to shoot at him, almost as if he were saying, “I’m okay.” Despite the look of concern he was shot at the Private, Gideon shot a quick smile back, silently telling him that everything will be okay. He was broken out of his brief phase when saw Mitchell’s head jerk violently to the right, blood seeping out of his mouth. Looking upwards, he noticed the same guard who left him earlier, as well as a new guard, stand directly in front of Mitchell, one whose fist was in the air as if he were getting ready to punch Mitchell again. Gideon looked over to Ilona, as if she would provide some explanation for what was going on. She looked back at him and shrugged her shoulders, honestly unsure (and frightened) as to what was going on. One of the two soldiers made their way towards Cormack, who was going in and out of consciousness, and removed his bonds, causing him to fall limply onto the hard ground. The soldier in front of Mitchell did the same, with the same results. Gideon noticed that Mitchell was trying to crawl towards Cormack, but he received a very sharp kick to the stomach, forcing him to roll up into a ball. The soldier standing above Cormack stared at the dying soldier for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and moving towards Mitchell again. Almost instantly, he kicked Mitchell right in the face and then in the ribs. The two soldiers began to viciously hit and kick the already injured Private.  
Gideon’s vision turned red and his heart beat accelerated at an unnatural pace. He wanted to waste the two soldiers who were attacking Mitchell, but the gun behind his head and glass barrier prevented him from doing so. After a couple more seconds of violent hits and kicks, one of the soldiers picked up Mitchell’s body, forcibly dragged him towards the glass barrier, grabbed Mitchell’s hair, and slammed his head against the glass, causing it to crack. Gideon flinched at the sound and sight of Mitchell’s head crashing into the glass. He saw Mitchell slump onto the ground and feet and fists suddenly attacking him once again. Gideon couldn’t help himself, he had to say something at least. He yelled at the soldiers, so that they could hear him.  
“Fucking Christ, you’re killing him!! Stand down!” Almost immediately, he received a fist to the face, almost sending him to his knees. He quickly recovered though and continued to stare and the abused soldier lying on the ground.

After a minute, the two soldiers picked up Mitchell’s now limp body and dragged it back to its original spot on the cross-like beam. They lifted his arms and placed them into the locks, nodded to each other, and walked away, the door sliding tightly behind them. Gideon looked down at Cormack, who was still awake and staring at the former U.S Marines soldier. Gideon glanced at Ilona, who was smirking and looked like she had a plan. She directed her eyes towards the guard standing behind her. Her eyes then motioned Gideon to his own soldier. Gideon understood what she was communicating to him: ‘take them out’. They nodded at each other and quickly turned around and attacked the soldiers. Gideon grabbed the soldier’s gun, causing the soldier to shoot bullets in whatever direction Gideon was forcing him towards. Gideon aimed the gun at the glass window and bullets shot out of the gun, causing the already cracked (and slightly bloody) glass to crack even further. Satisfied, Gideon pulled the gun out of the soldier’s hands and kicked him with all of his force. The soldier crashed through to completely damaged barrier with Gideon charging right at him. Gideon fired the gun but realized that there were no more bullets...so he improvised. Tossing the gun aside, he ran up to the soldier, straddled him, grabbing his head, and slammed it against the ground with all of his force. He didn’t stop until he saw blood spurt onto the ground and heard a, what he would’ve thought was a sickening, but now was satisfying, crunch. He searched the dead soldier’s pockets until he found the key that unlocked the cuffs around his wrists. After freeing his wrists, Gideon quickly glanced at Ilona, who had just finished taking down her guard. Happy that she was okay, he stood up and opened the locks that were holding up Mitchell’s arms as well as limp body. He caught the bloody soldier and lowered him to the ground. He gently shook the unconscious soldier’s shoulder.

“Mitchell? Mitchell, can you hear me, mate? We’ve got to get out of here now, but we can’t do that if you’re in 'lala' land. Wake up.”  
After a couple more shakes, his movements and words were rewarded when two blue eyes slowly opened and found their way to his. Mitchell found his gaze and weakly smirked.

“Assholes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said, this idea has been in my head for an extremely long time (just like my other story) so I wanted to write it down so I could get some sleep lol I'm sorry if it's long: I like descriptions a lot, but I'm working on not overdoing it like the last time.  
> If you have any questions/comments/concerns/insults/thoughts of love, write them down (if you want ;) ). I love waking up and having feedback to act on: it helps me with my writing.
> 
> The next chapter (almost rest of the story) will be from Mitchell's point of view!! I will say that there WILL be longer gap periods, in terms of updates, so sorry about that :/
> 
> Take Care and Party Hard :0)


	2. Chapter Two (Mitchell's POV)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following the assault, Mitchell and the rest of the squad begin to head out of the facility. 
> 
> While escaping, Mitchell pulls a drastic move that could possibly end his life...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all :0)
> 
> I managed to write a small chapter to add onto the story!!! It's extremely short but will be continued throughout the story. This is where the story really becomes an AU!
> 
> Warning: Grammatical/Spelling Errors and possibly slight OOC-ness
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!

(Mitchell’s POV)

“Mitchell? Mitchell, can you hear me, mate? We’ve got to get out of here now, but we can’t do that if you’re in 'lala land'. Wake up.”  
After getting his shit kicked out of him, Mitchell wasn’t really feeling it. Honestly, the black abyss he was currently trapped in felt extremely nice and comfortable. He was about to slide back into complete oblivion, however the memory of Cormack getting shot quickly flashed in his mind. They had to get Cormack out. NOW. Motivated by the realization, Mitchell forced himself out of the abyss and began to head to the all familiar light that would return back to the land of the living and pain.

The first thing Mitchell felt was pain all over his face and upper body, causing him to groan outwardly. He also felt a hand on his shoulder, jostling him in an uncomfortable manner. Knowing that they didn’t have time to spare, and also to stop the pain the hand on his shoulder caused him, Mitchell forced his eyes to open. He was instantly greeted by blinding lights, and then after a short amount of seconds, the blurry face of Gideon looking down at him. His vision wasn’t completely focused, but Mitchell could tell that Gideon looked eager to escape this hell-hole, angry at the events that took place, and concerned for the injured soldiers. In order to provide some comfort for Captain, he managed to smirk and say (to the best of his ability): “Assholes.”  
He saw Gideon smirk before he offered his hand to the fallen soldier, which Mitchell accepted. Grabbing the outstretched hand with the hand that he could feel, he felt himself being tugged upwards onto his feet. As soon as he was vertical, Mitchell’s vision began to blacken and he began crumple towards the ground. Suddenly, he felt Gideon’s hands, one behind his back and the other snaking around his shoulders and located on his other shoulder, catch him and steady him, keeping him upright and balanced. Once he was sure that he wasn’t going to face-plant onto the ground, he shook his head in order to remove the black dots that continued to pop into his vision. Wincing at where Gideon’s hands were placed, he steadied his breathing and nodded to Gideon, indicating that he would be okay. Gideon removed his hand from Mitchell’s shoulder but kept the one placed behind his back in case Mitchell decided to collapse again. Mitchell’s eyes sluggishly found Ilona helping Cormack stand and take most of his weight. That sight snapped Mitchell out of his hazy state and he stood more upwards, Gideon’s hand still remaining in the same spot.  
“Can you walk?” Ilona’s voice sounded distant and almost doubled, but Mitchell ignored it.  
“Stop Irons,” Cormack began, “I’m done.”  
“Shut it!” Gideon’s harsh and firm voice, leaving no room for any arguments, almost made Mitchell jump. “We’re leaving,” Gideon continued, his eyes now focused on Mitchell, “ALL of us!”  
Nodding, Mitchell was about to take Cormack off of Ilona’s shoulder, but she stated, “I’ve got him.”  
“Alright, follow me and stay quiet” Gideon commanded.

The Captain removed his hand from Mitchell’s back and led the group through the broken glass barrier, Mitchell slowly following him. He shot a quick glance behind his shoulder in order to see if Ilona and Cormack were okay. Satisfied, he began to catch up with Gideon. The entire walk, his vision kept going in and out of focus and his body began to scream with protest at the movements. He was tempted to just collapse in the hallway right then and there, but he couldn’t afford to slow down the team, not with one soldier wounded that badly. He blocked out the screams and forced his vision to go back into focus. It was then when he realized that there were body bags hung up from the ceiling, each one of them containing an actual dead body. The eyes of the deceased were bloodshot, bloody, and sometimes even green.  
‘Probably victims of Manticore’ Mitchell deducted, remembering the way Knox looked before he died.  
He was broken out of his thoughts by a hand on his chest, halting his movements all together. Gideon silenced him and motioned him to move back a bit. Before he could ask what was going on, he saw an Atlas guard walking into a room, locking the door behind him. Gideon ran towards the closed door and banged against it.  
“Hold on,” the guard yelled behind the closed door, “I’m coming.”

Gideon was in a combat stance, ready to pounce at the soldier. When the door opened slightly, Gideon kicked the door the rest of the way with all of his force, causing the guard behind the door to fall backwards from the impact. Gideon ran into the room, Mitchell right behind his tail. A series of events followed within a second: Gideon grabbed the guard, flung him over the control panel, then flung him against the wall, and then proceeded to stomp on the guard’s head, ignoring the plea and killing him instantly.  
‘Impressive’ Mitchell silently noted. Gideon’s voice caught his attention.  
“You look like his size.” Gideon began to walk towards an AMR9 that was mantled on the wall. “Grab his exo-suit and sidearm.”  
Looking at the guard’s exo-suit, an exo-suit Mitchell just noticed, he carefully kneeled down and began to remove the suit from the corpse. After a couple of seconds, Mitchell was in the suit, flexing his useful hand in order to confirm the fit. Sighing, he grabbed the sidearm that laid on the ground and unconsciously attempted to reload the gun, only to be reminded of the fact that Iron took away his lower left arm. He was about to throw the gun in frustration, but then he felt the gun gently being removed from his hand. Looking upwards, he saw Gideon reloading the pistol for him.  
Here,” he said, “with only one wing, you won’t be reloading. So make every shot count and pick up new kit when you’re empty.” Gideon handed back the pistol to Mitchell, his grip on it still strong. “Ready?”

Mitchell nodded, taking the pistol from Gideon, and gingerly began to stand up, ignoring the pounding sensation his ribs were sending him and the black dots that briefly made their way across Mitchell’s vision. He followed Gideon, Ilona and Cormack on their tails, to a control room that had an elevator at the end.  
‘Thank god,’ Mitchell thought, ‘we can leave this torture chamber.’  
“This looks like surface access.” Gideon began to order commands. “Ilona, this way. Mitchell, get on that console and get the door open.”  
Mitchell walked over to the console, placed his handgun down, and began to press buttons that opened up the elevator shaft. When the door opened, Mitchell picked up his handgun and walked as fast as he could towards the elevator. Gideon was about to enter the shaft himself when suddenly, two Atlas guards bursted into the room, their guns trained on the two soldiers who were heading towards the exit. A series of shouts and orders followed:  
“Drop your weapons” Gideon ordered.  
“Freeze! Get down on the floor” Guard Number One  
“You,” Guard Number Two shouted, his attention on Mitchell, “Get back!”  
Gideon’s loud voice rose above the other Guard’s. “Mitchell! Drop them!”

Without a second thought, Mitchell aimed the pistol at the Guard and fired, Gideon doing the same. Satisfied that they were dead, Mitchell was about to head to the exit when he noticed the shaft’s door shutting. Without hesitating, Mitchell kicked Gideon with all of his force, causing him to land next to Ilona and Cormack, who were safely in the shaft. The door closed tightly, separating the young Private from the rest of the team. When Gideon got up from where he fell, Mitchell took note at the absolute rage and confusion Gideon’s eyes held.  
“YOU STUPID FUCKWAT,” Gideon screamed as he banged his hand against the glass window, “why the fuck would you do that?!”  
Mitchell calmly replied, “There's no way I’m letting you guys stay here.” He noticed that Gideon’s expression began to soften and his eyes of fury became replaced with eyes of worry.  
“I’ll be okay.” In order to prove his point, Mitchell picked up one of the guard’s weapons, much more powerful than his handgun, and lifted it to show Gideon. “I’ll meet you guys topside!”  
“Jesus Christ, Mitchell.” Taking deep breath, Gideon nodded, reluctant to leave the young (and injured) soldier behind. “Alright. We’ll find a safe spot and try to pick you up from there. Remember to pick up new kit when you’re out of ammo and to move fast and quietly. Copy?”  
“Copy.”  
"Mitchell," Gideon began before Mitchell could leave, "you ever pull this shit again, I'll kill you with my bare hands. Copy?"

Mitchell nodded at Gideon, silently telling him that 'everything will be fine'. He was also telling his friend 'goodbye'...possibly for the last time. Gideon, along with Ilona and Cormack, watched Mitchell head into another room, each one of them feeling grief, worry, anger, and heartbreak over Mitchell’s actions.

“Fucking hell, Mitchell,” Gideon quietly said to himself, “what've you done?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why, but when I finished the campaign, I expected Mitchell to get separated from the rest of the group when they reached the elevator shaft. So that is where the idea came from!!
> 
> Questions/Comments/Concerns/Insults/Thoughts of love? Feel free to comment and tell me! I'm always excited to read any comments!
> 
> Take Care and Party Hard :0)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mitchell's journey to escape the Atlas Research Lab continues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all :0)  
> I found time to update the story!!! It still follows "Captured" but is an AU, and I'll explain at the end the thing that I changed this time.
> 
> Warning: Grammatical/Spelling Errors and possibly slightly OOC-ness
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!!

As soon as he was sure the rest of his teammates were secured in the elevator, Mitchell began to run towards the next open door that he saw. Almost immediately, he engaged with Atlas troops who were stationed near a control panel. Using a body bag that was hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room as cover, he quickly took down the soldiers down before making his way to a closed door. Cautiously, he opened the door and began to slowly make his way up a set of stairs. At the end of the staircase, Mitchell took a sharp right only to nearly bump into a doctor wearing light blue scrubs and white gloves. Instantly, he pointed his gun and nodded his head toward the wall on the opposite side.  
“Stay there!”  
Another doctor appeared and Mitchell pointed the gun at him, directing him towards the same wall the first doctor was leaning against. Satisfied that they were going to stay put, he turned around and noticed an enormous screen that listed dozens of major cities in America: Boston, New York, Chicago, Dallas, etc. Each city had a number listed next to it, most of them in the millions, and above the entire screen the words “Estimated Casualties Per Strike” were lit up.  
“Manticore strikes” Mitchell whispered. He looked at a clock above the screen and then looked at the listed times. “Shit. We've only got a couple of hours...”  
He stared at the screen for a while, trying to memorize the list of deaths, injuries, times, and cities, before he headed into the next room. He shot a glance at the doctors, silently ordering them to stay put, before he engaged with more Atlas soldiers who were hidden in every direction. He made brief work of taking down the three soldiers, picked up a spare gun, and ran to his left. He heard a frightened doctor near the entrance, but Mitchell didn’t have time to order him against the wall. As he ran towards another door, he yelled at the doctor near the entrance:  
“Stay calm! Shut up!”  
‘Fuck,’ he thought, ‘I’m beginning to sound like Gideon.’  
There was another doctor seated in a chair that was in front of a large control panel. Mitchell starred at the doctor as he ran, his command going for him as well. There were a set of stairs heading downwards leading to a passageway that required a code. Mitchell lowered his gun and typed the code. Nothing happened. He tried again with the exact same results.  
“Fuck” he mumbled to himself. He was about to try again when the door behind him slammed shut, now trapping him in the passage. A robotic voice echoed in the little space.  
“Sequencing.”  
After a flash of bright light, the door in front of him slide open.  
“Cleared” the voice stated.  
He raised his gun and began to slowly walk to the next exit. He froze when he saw dozens of body bags lined up and hanging from above. He noticed traces of manticore on the floor and floating in the air. Thankfully, he was immune to the deadly virus, but he still felt physically ill. The traces of manticore entered the wounds he sustained during the beatdown, causing them to sting and throb. Ignoring the pain, he made his way towards the exit, still staring at the bodies hanging in front of him.  
“Oh my god,” Mitchell breathed out, “Irons is insane.”  
As soon as the exit doors slide open, more soldiers came running towards him, their guns trained on him. Mitchell took cover and began to engage. This battle was much more difficult because doctors began to run in front of Atlas soldiers in order to escape the bullets. As much as Mitchell hated Atlas, he didn’t want to kill an innocent civilians, so he had to much more careful. His battle with Atlas soldiers was much longer than the previous ones not only because he was outgunned, but also because there were no doors he could escape in. Throughout the battle, Mitchell leaped through windows, grabbed guns that were either mounted on the walls or lying next to the fallen Atlas troops, took cover behind desks and gurneys, and ran as fast as he could without missing a soldier to the next door. After a couple of minutes of shooting, dodging, and running, Mitchell finally came to a pair of doors. He shoved his body against the door to open it and was greeted by dozens and dozens of soldiers, most of them staring at him with fear. At the end of the room, he noticed a shoot that he could probably slide into in order to escape. However, before he could move forward, he felt a strong pair of arms wrap around his shoulders with a force that not only took his breath away but also halted his plans of lifting up his gun in order to shoot. The hold also agitated his already injured ribs. Thinking on his toes, he slammed the back of his head against the doctor’s head, stunning him and forcing his grip to loosen. Mitchell swiftly turned around and punched the doctor right in the jaw, causing him to fall to the ground. Satisfied that the doctor wasn’t going to attack him again, Mitchell raised his gun and pointed it at two soldiers.  
“You two,” he commanded, “head to that door. NOW! The rest of you, on the ground! Move it!!”  
The two doctors began to run towards the glass door. While Mitchell was following them, his gun still trained on them, he took in his surroundings. There were multiple operation tables holding bodies of what Mitchell guessed were Manticore test subjects. Their eyes and mouths were sewn shut and had bloody patches located on different locations of the bodies. His hatred for Atlas and Irons reached its breaking point: there was no way Irons was going to get away with this. Not while he was breathing anyhow.  
When the two doctors reached the door, Mitchell stood at right in the center of the door.  
“Both of you,” he ordered, “open the door!”  
The door was tightly locked but the two soldiers began to pry the glass doors open. The doctor behind the door raised his handgun and began to fire at Mitchell. Mitchell smoothly slide-stepped to the side of the door, his own gun trained on the firing doctor. When the door opened all of the way, Mitchell raised his gun and fired it at the doctor's hand that was holding the gun. Following a scream of pain, the doctor dropped his gun and clutched his bleeding hand. Mitchell threw his now empty gun on the ground and ran to the injured doctor. He grabbed him by his throat and slammed him onto the operation table in the center of the room.  
“Do you know where Manticore is launching from?” Mitchell’s voice left no tolerance for jokes, sarcasm, or lies.  
The doctor nodded.  
“Tell me!”  
The doctor remained silent. Losing patience, Mitchell threw the doctor onto the ground and stomped on the doctor’s injured hand, causing the doctor to scream and squirm in order to get away from the pain. Mitchell gingerly lowered himself so that his face was inches away from the doctors.  
“Where is Manticore launching from?” His voice was low, dangerous, deadly, and determined. Mitchell began to reach for his knife, but then he saw the doctor swallowed nervously and opening his mouth.  
“Th-The Atlas command center! In the city.”  
Nodding Mitchell lifted his boot off of the doctors hand, grabbed the doctor by his scrubs, and threw him out of the now open door. When he looked up from where the doctor fell, he saw Atlas troops swarming into the lab. Mitchell ran to the hatchet, opened the shoot, and slide down, avoiding the bullets that began to hit the wall around him.

Mitchell didn’t know how long he was falling, but after a little while, he felt the ground below his feet. He wanted to move forward but he couldn’t see shit. It was pitch black.  
“Fuck,” he yelled, his voice vibrating across the what seemed to be hallway, “where the hell am I?”  
He was answered by the sound of something turning on. Blue lights lit up the tunnel and a clicking sound could be heard at a distance.  
“That doesn’t sound good.”  
He looked forward and saw an orange light appear at the end of the tunnel, creating a painful amount of heat. Before he could comprehend where he was, the orange light flashed, igniting whatever was at the end of the tunnel on fire. He was in an incinerator.  
“Fuck fuck fuck” Mitchell chanted.  
He began to make his way towards the light when he realized that there was a vent a couple of carts away. He jumped down into the open space and used all of his force to push the cart blocking the vent. His ribs began to scream with protest and black dots began to dance across his vision, but Mitchell forced himself to push forward. After a couple of seconds, Mitchell used the knife he had, slide it underneath the vent, and used it to open the vent. Mitchell grabbed the vent with his only hand and threw it open, creating an exit for him. He placed the knife back into its holder and jumped down into to vent. He has to crawl on his belly because of the lack of room, but he felt euphoria hit him when he saw an exit to his right.With his arm, he began to quickly crawl towards the open area, determination fueling him. He was almost there when he grabbed onto a pipe that he hoped would provide him with support. But then, the pipe broke open, releasing CO2.  
“Oh sh-”  
Suddenly, flames burst out of the pipe, burning his hand. In a panic, Mitchell frantically crawled to the exit and pushed himself out of the vent completely. Once he was in the clear, Mitchell lifted up his now burnt hand and inspected the damaged: second degree burns. Great. Hissing when his hand made contact with the ground, Mitchell pushed himself off of the ground and began to run towards the light. After a few moments, he came into an opening. He could hear a warbird above him.  
“Mitchell.” It was Ilona. “I’ve secured a vehicle for exfil. RV at the North Wall.”  
Mitchell almost laughed with excitement, but he remained composed and headed towards the warbird right in the center of the open area.  
“Thank you. I’m enroute now. Are you all okay?!”  
“Gideon and I are fine. Cormack's not well.”  
Swallowing, Mitchell picked up the pace even more. “Copy that, Ilona. I’ll try to meet you all there soon.”  
He saw a warbird right in the center of a big opening. He ran towards the door that would bring him to his escape vehicle, when something caught his eye. Looking to his right, he stared down at a huge garage that held hundreds and hundreds of Manticore.  
“Jesus. There is enough Manticore to wipe out all of the bases Irons listed plus more. I gotta find the group.”  
He almost reached the door when suddenly, an alarm echoed throughout the base. Looking to his left, he saw that an Atlas doctor had pushed an alarm button. Mitchell was tempted to put that bastard down right then and there, but he didn’t have the time, patience, or energy. He took a deep breath and kicked the door open, his knife raised in the air, ready to be thrown.

Atlas troops located all around the opening, began to appear and shoot at him. He couldn’t waste time trying to take the soldiers down so he decided to charge with all of his speed towards the warbird right in front of him. Once he reached the vehicle, he slit the throat of the Atlas pilot seated in the seat. He stabbed the other Atlas passenger right in the neck. Pulling his knife out of the dead soldier’s neck, he kicked both dead pilots out of the warbird and sat down in the empty seat. He took control of the radio system and started up the warbird. Bullets hit the windshield as he took off but he ignored them and lifted the carrier off of the ground. Despite the use of only one hand, Mitchell found that flying the carrier was easier than he planned. He turned on the warbird's radio system so that he could talk to anyone who was listening without having to remove his hand from the Yoke, and began to talk.  
“Any radio station, this is Sentinel Two-Two in the blind! Do you copy?” More bullets hit the vehicle  
A staticky response appeared. “Sentinel Two-Two, this is Kingpin. We copy all. Thought we lost you there, soldier.”  
“Irons is planning a biological strike against all of the major bases within the next fifteen hours!”  
“Understood. We are tracking your position. Sending air assets to assist your exfil.”  
“Copy that!”  
Once he hung up, he head Gideon’s voice chime in over an intercom.  
“Mitchell? Do you copy?”  
Sighing with relief, Mitchell replied, “Yeah."  
“Are you okay?”  
“Yeah. You okay?”  
“I’m good, mate.”  
“Thank G-”  
Suddenly, a AST came out of nowhere and punched through the windshield, attempting to grab Mitchell. Mitchell had to let go of the controls in order to fight off the AST.  
“JESUS CHRIST!”  
“Mitchell? Mitchell!! What’s going on?”  
Mitchell couldn’t reply, not when a giant AST was attempting grab him. Suddenly, without a warning, Mitchell felt himself being thrown from the pilots seat and tossed around in the back of the carrier. Before he could figure out what had happened, something smacked him in the back of the head, causing him to black out.

He never got to hear Gideon’s frantic and worried voice calling his name, begging for a response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the actual game, the Manticore launches were scheduled to launch in two hours. I wanted to extend the amount of time the crew had to stop Irons...there will be another Chapter (not sure how many more..not much) that will explain why I gave the crew more time to stop Irons.  
> This mission was one of the most action-packed ones and I wanted Mitchell to become more badass by himself. I didn't want to describe every event that took place, so I tried to limit the descriptions as much as I could without skipping the most important set pieces.
> 
> I will try to update soon! If you have any questions/comments/concerns/insults/thoughts of love, feel free to shoot me a comment :D
> 
> Take Care and Party Hard :0)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the crash, Mitchell finds his way out of the facility only to be greeted by a tragic discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all :0)
> 
> Here is the second to last chapter of this random story! Remember that it is an AU, so a lot of the events that take place didn't actually happen!
> 
> Warning: Grammatical/Spelling errors and maybe slight OOC-ness
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!!

Mitchell was used to waking up in weird places. One night way back when, he and Will were shit-faced drunk and a couple hazy and blurry hours later, Mitchell woke up with a pounding headache in the back of a pickup truck that was driving on the highway. Three years ago, he woke up in a tent surrounded by foreign faces and Atlas soldiers, including Gideon: It turned out that he got knocked out by an explosion caused by a suicide bomber the KVA sent. So waking up to the sight of a destroyed warbird that looked like it crashed through the roof of some facility didn’t really surprise him.

He tried to push himself upwards to inspect the damage more, but his flesh hand and entire upper body halted him from doing so. Wincing, he lied back down on the rubble underneath him and closed his eyes in a vain attempt to keep his nausea and pain under control. Taking a deep breath, he peeled his eyes open, rolled onto his stomach, and began to crawl toward a piece of rubble that stood out. The crash only worsened his injuries and every movement sent a wave of pain throughout his entire body. He used his burnt flesh hand to grab the rubble and pulled himself upwards so that he could be in a standing position. He couldn’t suppress a cry of pain as he pulled himself into a vertical position. His vision went in and out of focus the entire time and by the time he managed to get vertical, he was swaying back and forth and was out of breath. He touched the back of his head and he felt a warm liquid covering the hand, as well as trickling down his head and onto his neck. After taking a couple of moments to push aside the pain, he stood up more straighter and began to slowly make his way towards the crashed warbird. Suddenly, the AST pilot that attacked him pushed the wall that apparently was pinning him upwards and began to slowly walk towards Mitchell. Mitchell took out his knife, knowing that it would be useless against an AST, and positioned himself into a fighting stance. However, after a couple of steps, the AST pilot collapsed on the ground, bringing the suit with him. Mitchell slowly walked to the AST and hit the manual punch, revealing the dead pilot’s body. Mitchell placed his knife into the holder, grabbed the pilot’s body, and tossed him out of the suit. Mitchell then proceeded to place himself into the AST suit. Once situated in it, he could feel his entire body, including his damaged left arm, sync to the suits weapons and functions. In order to see if the suit was still functional, Mitchell flexed his left hand, the suit mimicking his actions. Mitchell looked up from the left arm of the suit and saw a big wall blocking his exit route out of the destroyed building. He ran over to the wall and jumped through it, landing in front of dozens of Atlas soldiers and vehicles. Immediately, he pulls out the chain gun attached to his suit and begins to fire on the troops and almost anyone who got in his way.   
  
As he took down Atlas troops one by one, Mitchell noticed a warehouse that led to the exit of the entire facility. After taking out the remaining soldiers, Mitchell ran with all of his might towards the warehouse. He punched through the wall that attempted to block his escape with ease, and continued to shoot at any Atlas soldiers that came in his way. He felt invincible in the suit and dared to let himself believe that he would make it out of the facility alright. He  jinxed himself when he saw FOUR ASTs coming out of in-ground elevators.  
“Oh shit” he said to himself.  
The ASTs began to fire at him simultaneously, forcing Mitchell to take cover. He continued to fire at Atlas troops, drones, and the ASTs with everything he had: he couldn’t keep his crew waiting any longer. He had to get out of here in order to get Cormack some medical attention. After a couple intense minutes, Mitchell managed to take down three out of the four ASTs. He tried to walk towards the North-Wall, but then suddenly rockets were fired from the last AST and hit him right the back. Despite the heavy protection the AST provided him, because the suit was damaged from the crash, it was weak and didn’t repel the rockets as they usually would. Mitchell felt his entire back getting stung by a painful burning sensation, forcing him to kneel down. His back felt like it was on fire...technically, it was on fire. He didn’t know how much longer he would last. With determination, Mitchell stood up and fired at the AST with everything the suit provided, from chain bullets all the way to rocket launchers. After dozens of rockets hit the remaining AST, it finally exploded and collapsed. Satisfied, Mitchell began to walk (he couldn’t run now because of his now burnt back) towards the North Wall. He took out the remaining drones and troops that dared to cross his path and was about to exit the camp for good when suddenly, a door slammed in front of the gateway, automatically locking in the process, and prevented him from exiting.

Mitchell had come too far, and had endured too much, to be stopped by a bloody lock. He raised both of his hands and smashed them against the lock until it was destroyed completely. He then slid his fingers underneath the door and lifted it up with all of his force. His body began to shake with exhaustion, pain, and determination, but he didn’t let go of the door. He lifted it so that he could safely walk underneath the door with the suit. However, just as he was about to slide underneath it, a missile hit right in the back, causing him to scream in pain. He turned his head and saw another AST behind him, running towards him with its weapons ready. Another missile hit him, followed by bullets from the chain gun. He felt a bullet pierce through the suit and hit him right in his back, the bullet exiting through his stomach and out of the suit. One final missile was sent in his direction, hitting him in the back again, and causing him to catapult out of the facility. Thankfully, the door slammed shut behind him, blocking the AST and incoming troops. His suit was getting all staticy and glitchy and before he could do anything, he was suddenly flung out of his suit and landed several feet away from the now completely destroyed suit. The fall caused him to land on his burnt back and bullet wound, prompting Mitchell to let out a cry of pain from the impact. Mitchell couldn’t get up...the burns, bullet wound, and injuries from the crash, as well as beat down earlier, forced him to remain lying on the ground..

He was in a semi-conscious state: his vision was blurry and everything sounded like it was underwater. The Sentinel Razorbacks that flew above him, destroying everything inside the camp, sounded far away and looked like black birds. He could barely hear a truck approaching him, footsteps running towards him, and the voice of a panicked soldier.  
“Mitchell?” The voice echoed and sounded muffled. He squinted his eyes and Gideon’s face came into focus: he looked worried and concerned. Mitchell wanted to ask him if he was alright, but to be honest, his main concern was Cormack.  
“Cormack?” His question was mumbled, slurred, and quiet.  
“He’s in the back with Ilona. Come on,’ Gideon said as he grabbed Mitchell’s burnt hand, “on your feet!”  
Gideon pulled the young private onto his feet and wrapped one arm around his waist and the other around his shoulder, gently grabbing Mitchell’s wrist and guiding it so that his arm would snake around his own shoulders. As quickly yet gently as the Captain could, he guided the semi-conscious Private into the passenger seat of the truck and helped him onto the seat. He grabbed a bandana he found in the glove compartment, folded it, and placed it over the bullet wound. He lifted Mitchell’s hand and guided it so that it was now placed on top of the cloth, adding slight pressure as well in order to slow the bleeding. He pressed Mitchell’s hand down onto the wound, causing the Private to groan in pain.  
“Easy Mitchell,” Gideon softly said, “it’s okay. Keep pressure on that until we get back to HQ.”  
He shut the passenger door closed before running to the driver’s seat. Once he was situated, he started the engine and then looked at the rearview mirror.

“Hang in there you two,” Gideon mumbled while he stole a glance at the injured soldier next to him, “we’re going to make it.” Gideon drove away from the facility and headed back to Sentinel HQ, awaiting to see the damage done because of their actions.

 **January 8, 2061 (15:50)**  
The entire ride towards HQ, Mitchell remained in the semi-consciousness state: everything he saw through the window was blurred and doubled, making him nauseous (that feeling could also be the concussion he received after the Warbird crashed). He closed his eyes and leaned towards the cool glass window in order to numb his throbbing head. He was about to go under when he remembered something extremely important: the launches. Slowly, he moved his lolling head so that it would be facing Gideon’s, who was currently staring out into the endless dirt road. Gathering all of his strength, Mitchell began to warn Gideon.  
“Manticore,” he mumbled, “launches in a couple of hours…”  
That caught Gideon’s attention. He took his eyes briefly off the road and focused on Mitchell.  
“What are you talking about, mate?”  
“Irons...Manticore...major bases….in a couple of hours.” Mitchell’s eyes began to flutter.  
“Woah,” Gideon exclaimed, “stay with me. Do you know where the launches will take place?”  
After a pause, Mitchell answered, “Atlas command center...city.”  
“How long do we have?”  
“About fifteen hours….”  
“Fuck me,” Gideon muttered. Although fifteen hours sounded like a lot of time, Sentinel lost almost all of their squad members because of the Manticore attack earlier, and also their base probably wouldn't be in top shape when they returned. There was no way they could stop the attack with this small amount of resources. His assumptions about the base were confirmed when he turned his eyes back onto the road and then suddenly stopped the truck.  
The entire Sentinel HQ was destroyed. Their base looked like a crater and everything was gone. Gideon rubbed his mouth with frustration and looked at the rearview mirror: he noticed Ilona motioning him towards the back. Gideon nodded, quickly jumped out of the truck, and ran to the back.

Mitchell, on the other hand, was still taking in their destroyed home. Once again, everything he loved was taken from him. His eyes slid to the now empty driver’s seat. He felt his heart skip a beat.  
“Gideon?”  
He forced his heavy head to move back towards the window. His right hand slowly crept towards the door handle and with one pull, the door flung open, causing Mitchell to fall out of the truck and onto the dirt ground. The fall caused his entire upper half to erupt in pain, causing him to hiss. He grabbed onto the door and pulled himself upwards. When he looked down, he noticed a decent-sized puddle of blood underneath his feet and saw drops of blood landing on the bloody bandana below him. He cleared his throat and began to drag his feet towards the back of the truck, leaning heavily against the main structure of the truck in the process. After a minute, he finally reached his destination and froze at the sight.

There was blood everywhere and it was covering Ilona, who was tending to Cormack. However, Cormack’s eyes were open, empty, and were staring at nothing, his gaze not reaching Gideon’s or Ilona’s. His chest wasn’t moving and he was soaked in blood. Gideon was kneeling next to the Commander, his eyes filled with anger and grief. Gideon’s eyes slowly met Mitchell’s, whose were barely open. Mitchell already knew the answer, but he still didn’t want to believe it: his Commander was dead. He was already hurt physically...he didn’t think he could take anymore pain, both physical or emotional.  
“Cormack?” He didn’t realize that he was mumbling, or that his words were extremely slurred.  
Gideon just shook his head.  
‘I was too late,’ Mitchell silently grieved, ‘and now he’s dead because of me.’

Suddenly, Mitchell’s head began to throb violently, his vision lost focus, and his body began to sway dangerously back and forth. He felt like he couldn’t breath and all of the wounds on his body made themselves perfectly known. Without any warning, Mitchell’s eyes rolled into back of his head and he promptly passed out onto the dirt ground with a gasp, unaware of Ilona or Gideon shouting his name with concern.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the most difficult chapter because there were so many events that happened in this part of the game that I wanted to write down. Sorry if it seems rushed, sloppy, or just plain crappy! I will admit, compared to my other story, this one restricted the amount of freedom I have (because of the cannon) and threw me off at times! Sorry about this horrible story :(
> 
> Questions/Comments/Concerns/Insults/Thoughts of love? Feel free to share them with me :D I will try to reply to them when I can!
> 
> There will be one more Chapter after this one, which will then lead to the mission "Terminus." 
> 
> Thanks for the hits/kudos BTW! They really mean a lot to me!
> 
> Take Care and Party Hard :0)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mitchell wakes up and has a heart to heart conversation with Gideon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all :0)
> 
> This is the final chapter of the story :D 
> 
> Warning: Grammatica/Spelling errors and possibly slight OOC-ness
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!!

**January 9, 2061 (05:30)**  
With a groan, Mitchell slowly crept back into awareness. The first thing he felt was a freezing cold pillow, or rather a sorry excuse for a pillow, underneath his head right where he slammed it when the warbird crashed inside the Atlas lab. The pillow was extremely bumpy, rigid, and hard, and he could feel a thin and cold liquid trickling down his neck and making his hair wet.  
‘An icepack’ Mitchell deducted. Despite the sudden coldness, it relieved his still throbbing head and also felt a little nice in the warm environment. The next thing he could feel was a debatably soft surface underneath his body: it was too hard to be a mattress, but too soft to still be the rocky ground he originally collapsed onto. He also felt a very light weight on his chest that seemed to spread all the way down towards his feet. Before he could deduct what he was lying on or what was covering him, he began to hear voices...multiple voices. He remembered himself, Ilona, and Gideon being the only remaining Sentinel members that survived Iron’s Manticore attack as well as torture, so why was he hearing multiple voices? Although he wanted to keep his eyes closed and sink back into sleep, he slowly forced his eyes open to further investigate what was going on.

To his surprise, there was no blinding light that would usually force him to close his eyes again in order to readjust to the sudden change. Blinking for a second, he realized that, based on what he saw above, that it was close to dawn and that the sun was slowly rising East. Without removing his head from where it was resting, he slowly turned his head to see dozens of Sentinel soldiers all huddled together, some of them talking and others listening and nodding their heads. He scanned the crowd and tried to find Ilona or Gideon, but they were no where in his line of vision. Suddenly, all of the soldiers split up and headed in multiple directions. Most of them seemed to head towards a couple of helicarriers that were parked a mile from where he was laying, while the rest moved away out of Mitchell’s line of vision. Wanting to see where the others were heading, Mitchell took the initiative and slowly pushed himself upwards from where he was laying. The lack of a left arm, burns on his right hand, most likely cracked ribs, bullet wound on his back and stomach, and bruises on his upper torso and back, took him by surprise. With a yelp of surprise and pain, he found himself flopping right back down onto the surface, panting from pain and exertion. He refused to pass out again so he closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing. After a few deep breaths, he calmed down and began the process of trying to sit up again. He ignored the burning sensation his right hand was sending him when he put almost all of his weight on it in order to sit up, and slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. When he was sitting upwards, his world tilted and Mitchell leaned too far to his right in order to balance himself. He was about to fall towards the ground when a strong pair of hands supported his weight. Taken aback by the sudden save, Mitchell looked upwards and was staring into the eyes of Gideon. His vision briefly went hazy before clearing up and taking in his Captain’s facial expressions: all he could see was worry, concern, anger, and slight amusement. When he tried to speak, Mitchell found that his voice was raw and and sour, so Gideon replaced him.  
“The bloody hell were you thinking?” To be honest, Mitchell expected that greeting: he’s done stupid things in the past and it was after those moments when Gideon’s first words, when they got reunited, would usually be an insult, a question, or a hit across the back of his head. The injured Private was grateful that the third option didn’t play out this time. Ignoring how sore his throat felt, Mitchell quietly responded:  
“Well, usually when I wake up in an unfamiliar place, I kind of want to get an idea of where I am. So I took the initiative to try to s-”  
“You know what I mean.” Gideon’s voice held no humor or playfulness, only frustration, anger, and concern. Mitchell knew how the conversation would play out, so he took a deep breath and continued his statement.  
“Cormack got shot and Ilona was supporting him...they needed another person to cover them when they escaped. I just thought that you would be the one to d-”  
“So that gives you the excuse to push me into the elevator shaft and leave you alone?”  
“Yes.”  
“You really are a clueless sod, Mitchell!” Ignoring Gideon’s remark, Mitchell pressed forward.  
“Plus, there was no way in hell that I was going to let you get trapped in there with me. You were closest to the door and I thought on my toes…”  
“Mitchell,” Gideon replied, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes, “you decided to go against hundreds of Atlas troops all by yourself, while you injured I should remind you, so you could keep the rest of us safe? Do you have any idea how stupid you were?!”  
“I don’t care” Mitchell rebutted, his voice much more stronger and filled with determination, “you, Ilona, and Cormack were safe and that’s all that matters to me. I don’t regret what I did.”  
“You’ve got serious burns on your back and hand, cracked ribs, bruises and cuts all over your upper body and face, collapsed while you were concussed, and have been unconscious for twelve hours!! I don’t give a shit if you regret it or not, you will never pull that stunt again! Do you copy?”  
Despite his harsh words, Mitchell and Gideon himself could hear the little heat and anger in his voice, but more of the worry, concern, and anguish. Mitchell wanted to see for himself just how “serious” his condition was, he looked down to his chest.

The first thing he saw was that he was shirtless, or rather, topless. The upper half of the one-piece uniform, as well as t-shirt underneath, that he had worn during Sentinel’s attack had been stripped down and the arm sleeves were now tied around his hips. He saw that his ribs were tightly wrapped, his hand was carefully bandaged, and that there was a another gauze that wrapped around his stomach in order to keep both patches on his front and back over the bullet wound secure. He also took note that he was lying on a cot and that the light weight on his chest was a dark green blanket, providing him with warmth in order to make up for his upper body being stripped of any material. Sighing, he looked up and took in his surroundings: the cot was lying right in the center of the destroyed Sentinel HQ and that the remaining soldiers that he had seen earlier were now located behind him, seemingly ready to head out somewhere. He stared at them for a bit, trying to figure out where exactly they were going.  
“Mitchell!” Gideon’s voice halted his thought process. “Do you copy?!”  
Mitchell nodded lightly, trying not to agitate his head even more, and quietly replied, “Copy that, Captain.” Despite his promise, he had no intention of ending his suicidal acts just to make his Captain happy. He would still be willing to do anything for his crew, even if it meant putting his own well-being at risk. Sighing, he looked back at Gideon.

“So where are they heading to?” He motioned his head to his right where the soldiers were huddled.  
“While you were out, the rest of us were trying to come up with a plan to end Irons once and for all. We decided that some of the crew would be heading right back to New Baghdad and position themselves in front of Atlas HQ. The rest of the team, including Ilona, are heading back to Kingpin’s location in order to track the other team’s location and movements.”  
Nodding, Mitchell continued. “What about you?”  
“I’m going to infiltrate Atlas HQ with one of the two ASTs we found here that managed to survive.”  
“Great,” Mitchell said, “I’m coming with you.”  
On that note, Mitchell threw the blanket that covered him aside and swung his legs off the cot. He was about to stand up when Gideon’s confused tone interrupted him.  
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”  
Nonchalantly, Mitchell replied, “You have eyes, so what does it look like I'm doing?”  
“Mitchell, I know you took a serious bump to the head, but you’ve got to be joking!”  
“Does it look like I’m joking?” In order to solidify his point, Mitchell gingerly pushed himself upwards and onto his feet. To his annoyance, his legs almost buckled but Gideon managed to catch him and lower him back onto the bed.  
“Out of the question” Gideon replied as he lowered his partner back onto the bed.  
“Gideon..it’ll be you versus an entire army! It’s suicide…”  
“I don’t care.”  
“Well I do!!!” Mitchell paused for a moment, taking in what he had just said. He raised his head awkwardly to see Gideon’s shocked expression: it would’ve been a comical one, but given their current situation, Mitchell couldn’t bring himself to even smile. Swallowing, the injured soldier continued.  
“So let me clear this up: when I go against an entire army by myself, you make me promise that I won’t pull that shit again, but when you do it, the rules are different?”  
Gideon, finally regaining his composure after Mitchell’s outburst, simply nodded. That infuriated Mitchell.  
“You’re a fucking hypocrite, you know that?” Unlike Gideon’s previous remarks, the heat, anger, and betrayal in his voice were heard loud and clear. Before Gideon could reply, Mitchell continued his rant.  
“I didn’t get the shit beaten out of me just so I can sit back and watch everyone else risk their lives. I didn’t separate you and the rest of the team so you guys to could escape, just so you could go back in. I didn’t escape the lab only to not only find out that Cormack was gone but also that you were planning to get all suicidal!! I didn’t wake up to hear that you are going to pull the same shit you just scolded me for a couple of minutes ago!  
“Mitchell,” Gideon said, his voice rising in order for Mitchell to hear it, “if you haven’t noticed, the situation is different. I wasn’t beaten halfway to hell before I stormed an Atlas facility. I still have BOTH my arms and backup in case things go wrong.”  
“You said that those men were going to be placed outside the facility, not in it! In case you haven’t forgotten, the building is huge and by the time any of them come to help you if you requested it, you'll already be dead!!!”

Mitchell didn’t realize that he was standing up and fisting Gideon’s uniform. In all honesty, he really didn’t care. He didn’t care if his wounds screamed in protest, or if Gideon was angry or uncomfortable: he HAD to make his point loud and clear. He lost Will, friends from Atlas, Knox, and Cormack...he couldn’t afford to lose another friend. What has he done to deserve it?? He’s tried to be a good man and has done whatever it took to be a good soldier and person in other people’s eyes...so why was he getting punished? He slowly let go of Gideon’s uniform, unable to meet the Captain’s eyes, and slowly let his hand fall limply to his side.  
Gideon, on the other hand, has never seen Mitchell this angry or emotional. He always took the kid to be the “strong silent type” kind of guy. They’ve been working together for four years and its now when Mitchell decides to show him emotions. Although he would never admit it to Mitchell, Gideon loved Mitchell like a brother and couldn’t let him risk his life again in order to not only save other people’s lives, but also his own life. When the Golden Gate Bridge collapsed, Mitchell decided to hang back and help police officers who were surely going to meet their end. After losing his left arm and getting beaten, Mitchell decided to take down other Atlas soldiers while they had an easy escape. Both times Mitchell was selfless and both times his actions nearly got him killed. He loved Mitchell for that...but also hated him as well. He couldn’t let Mitchell pull another stunt like that again because there may never be an “again”. He knew that no matter what he was going to say, Mitchell would find a way to fight alongside Gideon. He always has. After Mitchell released his uniform, Gideon’s eyes stared at Mitchell, whose head was hanging downwards in order to look at his hand. He reached for Mitchell’s shoulder and gently pushed Mitchell back down onto the bed. His hand never leaving Mitchell’s bare shoulder, he calmly said:  
“Mitchell, I’m very honored to be working alongside a soldier that is as selfless as yourself...you put your own life at risk just so others don’t have to.” Mitchell never looked at him while he spoke, so Gideon continued. “But you can’t do this to yourself...or to us.”  
That caught Mitchell’s ears. The young Private slowly lifted his eyes so that they would meet Gideon’s. Knowing that he had Mitchell’s attention, Gideon moved forward.  
“You may not know this, but when I heard the warbird crash, I tried to call you many times to hear if you were okay… and all of those times you never responded. I'll be honest, the thought that you were K.I.A after the crash, as well as finding you barely awake in front of the lab, horrified me. And when you passed out twelve hours ago, that scared both Ilona and I shitless. Hell, when some other surviving Sentinel troops saw me carrying you, and in the state you were in, they were all worried.” Gideon could remember every soldier’s facial expression as he sped-walked with an unconscious and bloody Mitchell on his shoulder towards the center of the destroyed HQ, because almost all of their facial expressions reflected how he himself was feeling while holding the injured soldier. Pushing that memory down, Gideon continued.  
“Your slow brain may not know this, but you're a very important and well-liked member of this squad. I could tell that Cormack knew it the moment you guys were reunited in New Baghdad after we saw Irons kill the technician. Do you really think that he would want you to risk your life again? He was cursing with anger and worry right after you separated yourself from us and he died-”

Right when those words came out of Gideon’s mouth, Mitchell closed his eyes and was about to turn his head away when he felt a hand gently grip his chin and forced his head to turn back forward, facing Gideon. Satisfied that he had a firm hold on Mitchell’s chin, as well as attention, Gideon finished his statement.  
“And...he died believing that not only were you K.I.A, but also that you were one of his best soldiers and he couldn’t be more proud of you.”  
Mitchell felt the sting of tears in his eyes, but he quickly pushed them down. Gideon released Mitchell’s chin.  
“I just can’t lose anyone else…” Despite Mitchell’s sentence coming out as a sad whisper, those words hit Gideon like a bullet. He sighed and closed his eyes, his hand never leaving the Private’s shoulder. After nodding to himself, he opened his eyes and looked right into Mitchell’s eyes.  
“If I let you come-” He didn’t even finish the request when suddenly, Mitchell’s eyes brightened with happiness and joy. Gideon held up his free hand in order to silence the younger man before he said anything.  
“If I let you come, you will do exactly as I say. If I tell you to take cover, you will take cover. If I tell you to rest, you will rest. If I tell you to leave me and run, you WILL leave me and run!! Understand?”

Mitchell hated liars. He always has and he always will...when Irons lied to his own troops and the entire world about who was responsible for the “Attack on America,” Mitchell felt undying hatred for him that won't fade away until he’s buried six feet under. He hated being a hypocrite..but he had to lie this one time. Then he could hate himself forever. If Gideon fell, he would do whatever it takes to pick him back up...even if it meant using his own body as a shield. He outwardly nodded to Gideon.  
“Understood.” In order to prove so, he reached out his right bandaged hand and offered it for Gideon to shake. Gideon stared at the hand for a couple of seconds before shaking it with firmness and confidence.  
Gideon gently pulled Mitchell into a standing position and helped the private put back on the top half of his uniform. Mitchell would’ve been extremely embarrassed, but because he didn’t have his left arm, this would have to slide for now. Right after Gideon helped Mitchell put on the t-shirt and uniform, he placed a hand on his back and gently pushed him towards the two AST suits.  
“We’ve only got two hours to do this...think you can handle it?”  
Mitchell nodded at him, a big and cocky smile making its way onto his face. Although he wasn't willing to let his friend die today and would be willing to sacrifice himself again, this mission felt different. This time, he wouldn’t let Irons get away with all the pain he has caused the world, his troops, and the troops friends. He was going to be buried by the end of today, whether he knew it or not.

Gideon was walking right behind Mitchell, his own smile appearing on his face. He knew Mitchell had lied to him: he’s known that kid for four years now and if he couldn’t read him like a book, he’d be damned straight to hell. He was thinking about telling Mitchell to just stay put, but Mitchell didn’t deserve that. He’s lost too many people and he wanted to give the young kid the satisfaction of killing Irons himself. Gideon would make sure Mitchell survived this, even if it meant sacrificing himself or carrying his friend on his shoulder through the entire building. He was going to make sure they BOTH ended the man who has hurt too many people.

And he was going to make sure his best friend (and brother) came out of this alive...no matter what the cost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a very difficult piece to write: like I said before, I wanted to stick with the cannon as closely as I could while adding my own story. Because of this, I had less freedom to choose what would happen in my story, thus restricting my creativity! However, this last chapter was the easiest because I didn't have to describe the gameplay and could focus more on the actual story between Mitchell and Gideon.
> 
> I've got ONE more story in my head (it may involve hurt!Mitchell...I have NO idea why I love hurting Mitchell so much...probably because of Protective!Gideon) but because of how this story came out, I may not write it lol 
> 
> Thank you so much to the people who left kudos/comments/glanced at the story! It really means a lot knowing that people gave this story a chance :)
> 
> Take Care and Party Hard :0)  
> -RogersBz14


End file.
